The Yankees swept their season-opening series with the San Francisco Giants, and moved up the Pacific Coast to play the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco Field). The Yankees have had trouble with playing in Seattle ever since the Mariners came into the American League in 1977, regardless of how good either team is.
And this continued in the 1st game of the series. It was the 4th game of the season, and so, after using Max Fried, Cam Schlittler and Will Warren as starters, the Yankees were down to Ryan Weathers, son of 1990s Yankee reliever David Weathers. Like Warren 2 days earlier, he didn't get out of the 5th inning, but allowed only 1 run, in his case on 4 hits and 2 walks, with 7 strikeouts. The bullpen pitched shutout ball through the 8th inning.
But the bats did not come through. Jazz Chisholm reached on an error in the 2nd inning, but was stranded. In the 3rd, José Caballero drew a 1-out walk, but was erased when Trent Grisham grounded into a force play; and Aaron Judge drew a walk, but Cody Bellinger struck out to strand them. In the 4th, Giancarlo Stanton was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. In the 5th, Caballero singled, but was picked off 1st base.
José A. Ferrer -- no relation to the late, great actor José Ferrer -- took the mound for the M's in the 7th. Ben Rice led off with a single, Stanton reached on an error, Chisholm grounded into a force play, and Amed Rosario hit a sacrifice fly to score Rice. That tied the game, but Austin Wells grounded out to end the inning.
Judge singled in the 8th, but was stranded. Stanton doubled with 1 out in the 9th, but was taken out for a pinch-runner, who was stranded. The Yankees had gotten only 5 hits, and their run was driven in without one.
In the bottom of the 9th, Paul Blackburn gave up a leadoff single to Leo Rivas, got Cole Young to fly to right, and gave up a single to Brendan Donovan. Cal Raleigh came to bat. "The Big Dumper" was greeted with chants of "MVP!" just as Judge, who actually won the American League Most Valuable Player last season, had been booed. Raleigh did not hit a home run, but did single to right, to score Rivas and end the game. Mariners 2, Yankees 1.
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The Tuesday night game was very different. The Yankees went right to work in the 1st inning, with a Bellinger single, a Rice RBI double, and a Stanton RBI single. Grisham led off the 6th with a ground-rule double. Judge struck out, but Bellinger singled and stole 2nd, and Grisham scored on Raleigh's bad attempt to throw him out. Rice walked, and Stanton doubled Bellinger home, and Chisholm singled Rice home.
Fried was brilliant, going 7 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk, striking out 6. Brent Headrick pitched a scoreless 8th, and Tim Hill a perfect 9th, to preserve the 4-hit shutout. Yankees 5, Mariners 0.
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The Wednesday afternoon game looked like it would be similar to the one before. Rice doubled Bellinger home in the 1st. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. In the 6th, Grisham and Rice drew walks, and Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run to make it 4-0. Schlittler took a 2-hit, no-walk, 7-strikeout shutout into the 7th, Fernando Cruz finished the 7th.
But Camilo Doval allowed 2 runs in the 8th, and manager Aaron Boone had to bring in closer David Bednar to get out of it. Rice homered in the top of the 9th to give the Yankees a little more room, but Bednar was shaky in the bottom of the 9th. He got Josh Naylor to ground out, but allowed a 1-out double by Randy Arozarena. He got Luke Raley to ground to short, holding Arozarena on 2nd, but allowed an RBI single to Dominic Canzone. Finally, he ended it by getting Cole Young to fly out. Yankees 5, Mariners 3.
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The good news: In spite of having key injuries, especially in their starting rotation, the Yankees are 5-1, tying them for the best record in Major League Baseball. The other teams in the AL Eastern Division: The Toronto Blue Jays are 4-2, the Baltimore Orioles are 3-3, the Tampa Bay Rays are 2-4, and the Boston Red Sox are 1-5.
The pitching has been absolutely brilliant: An ERA of 1.01, a WHIP of 0.844, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.58. Rice has an OPS+ of 277; Stanton, 265; Goldschmidt, 153; Bellinger, 133.
The bad news: There are still key injuries. And several key hitters are off to slow starts that have given them sub-100 (average) OPS+'s: Grisham, 94; Judge, 54, although he does have 2 home runs; Austin Wells, 27; Caballero, 25; Chisholm, 15; Rosario, -8, and the formula that makes a negative OPS+ possible is complicated; and Ryan McMahon, -25. (Two other batters have gotten into games: J.C. Escarra is 0-for-4, and Randall Grichuk is 0-for-2. Coming to bat without reaching base means you have the lowest possible OPS+, which is -100.)
Can this spectacular pitching continue? My confidence in Fried and Schlittler remains high. It is considerably less high in Warren and Weathers, and the early schedule providing enough days off to not require a 5th starter. So, as Dennis Haysbert said when playing Cuban voodoo priest/slugger Pedro Cerrano in Major League, "Have to wake up bats!"
Tomorrow afternoon, at 1:35 PM, weather permitting -- rain may be a factor -- the Yankees will have their home opener, against the Miami Marlins. The ceremonial first balls will be thrown out by U.S. Olympic hockey Gold Medalists: Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, and Aerin Frankel, a native of Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, New York, who is the goaltender of the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women's Hockey League.
Will Warren is set to start against Eury Perez. Come on you Pinstripes!
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